Pakistani police: Gunmen kill 6 workers for phone company

05/05/2018

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP) — A Pakistani police official says gunmen have killed six laborers who were working on a project for the national phone company in the country’s southwestern region bordering Iran.

Local police official Mola Bakhsh says the workers were from Punjab province. They were killed in the border town of Kharan in Baluchistan province on Thursday night.

He says their bodies were brought to the city of Quetta on Friday.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack but Baluch separatists often target people from Punjab, who tend to dominate the ranks of the military stationed in Baluchistan that the separatists are fighting.
For years, separatist groups have waged a low-level insurgency in Baluchistan, demanding a fairer share of the province’s resources. Islamic militant groups have also been active there.